Hey, I finally got curious enough to get the W3000ANVs and I was shocked at how good they are!

I bought the ATHW5000s a few years back and didn't like them at all and quickly sold them (they sounded weird and squirmy and a little tipped up and didn't have a firm bass,

and this turned me off to ATH for a long time).

So I was really surprised that these are so great, with smooth organic vocals, pristine highs, firm bass, litte if any midrange glare from CDs, and nice balanced sound,

and I couldn't stop listening to them last night. My HD800s have a little too analytical vocal reproduction for me sometimes, and the ATHs are more relaxing and silky,

and maybe a little less detailed, but not obviously so. They don't gloss over things or sound blunted at all. They are very well tuned for my tastes.

They are right up there in quality with my LCD3s and TH900s, and, although they are a new toy, I may actually like the sound better in some important ways.

There is something very organic and liquid and saturated and addictive about the mids, especially as noted the vocals.

The fit is slightly strange, and I have to adjust them a bit to avoid feeling like they are falling off my head, but I've got that figured out now. (There seems to be no adjustment mechanism on them that I can find.)

And they are very light, too.

So I'm very happy with these, and I recommend them as a real bargain.

Welcome to the W3000ANV club! My W5000 experiences mirror yours too and I was equally shocked just how much I enjoyed the W3000s when I first heard them. Amazing just how much Audio Technica kicked it up with these cans.

While I hold the TH-900s in high regard, the W3000s are my favourite closed cans. Throw in the fact that they actually behave like "closed headphones" with pretty good isolation and minimal leakage, I haven't looked anywhere else for a closed pair of headphones.

I have put on pads with a bigger opening and the results were a bigger soundstage, more forward mids and a better bass response.......really liking the mids....the lambskin pads sit on my ears, and my current pads fit around, circumaural!

I have put on pads with a bigger opening and the results were a bigger soundstage, more forward mids and a better bass response.......really liking the mids....the lambskin pads sit on my ears, and my current pads fit around, circumaural!

If new pads could feel better that's always a good thing, but I personally would not want the mids any more forward than they are, as that would make them fatiguing definitely.

In fact, I would not toy with the sonics at all. There is a nice delicate balance, and I'd never disturb that.

In fact, I would not toy with the sonics at all. There is a nice delicate balance, and I'd never disturb that.

This, and the pads smell great.

While the W3000ANV sounds great out of anything, it's the first Audio- Technica for me that really shines with proper amping and source. All the earlier ATs wowed me completely unamped while the W3000 doesn't impress that much until you gear it up.